You should know that I am not the target audience for Paranormal Activity, a stage adaptation of the Paramount Pictures movie franchise running at Shakespeare Theatre Company through February 7. I am a wimp, a wuss, a weenie, with a time-tested talent for weaseling out of movie nights with even a w hiff of public fright. But more so, I am a sucker for spectacle, and this Paranormal Activity — which leans heavily on illusion and ambient creepiness instead of the “found-footage” format of its film iterations — is a horror hoot. Playwright Levi Holloway, whose Grey House haunted Broadway in 2023, has cooked up an original story that finds newlyweds Lou (Cher Álvarez) and James (Travis A. Knight) settling into a life in London, where they’ve been placed in stately corporate housing. They decamped from Chicago, where Lou’s mental health had deteriorated from an unshakable sense of dread, but even with new digs and medication, spooks emerge with a seemingly strong hunger for blood. Lou tries to keep the spirits at bay — at one point enlisting a medium-turned-podcast-host Mrs. Cotgrave (Kate Fry), whose refrain is “Places aren’t haunted, people are” — while James attempts the same with his devout mother Carolanne (Shannon Cochran), who insists on visiting the couple from her home in Florida. Initially skeptical, James doesn’t take long to accept that something is amiss. As the spirits take hold of their home, the couple is left to salvage their fracturing relationship as each learns who they really married.  Cher Álvarez as Lou and Travis A. Knight as James in ‘Paranormal Activity.’ Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography. Typically, stage productions are built around texts, but when the task is to recreate an expected experience from existing intellectual property, in this case, the Paranormal Activity movie franchise, nimbleness is required, and it seems that Holloway’s play was instead purpose-built to deliver that experience foremost. That’s not a bad thing, though, and he impressively hits the necessary notes to create a story that is both believable and able to tee up the night’s biggest tricks. Holloway veers away from referential pastiche by rooting the story firmly in today, and delightfully invokes everyday technology to remind us that even if we’re not being haunted, we’re still being watched; Alexa, Zoom, FaceTime, and even “targeted ads” make appearances. In a genre known for tropes, he does an especially good job of developing Lou and James, and Álvarez and Knight are both giving truthful performances even as their surroundings become more extraordinary. Fry and Cochran also do their best with their characters, who are mostly devices, but Holloway’s naturalism slips noticeably with puzzling, folksy lines like “You both look like flapjacks left in a skillet overnight” that land with a thud. And not all of the various threads he pulls on throughout the two-hour play are tied up by the play’s slapdash end, leaving some plot questions lingering and the moral of James and Lou’s story muddy.  It makes little difference, though. Originally directed by Felix Barrett and restaged here by Holloway, Paranormal Activity is relentless in building intoxicating anticipation from the first blaring sound cue. Even as the play cascades through a series of climaxes, one remains on tenterhooks, anxiously awaiting the moving of an object (Chris Fisher is illusions director and pulls out all the stops) or the roar of an alarm (sound design is by Gareth Fry) or a shadow on the wall (video/projections by Luke Halls) or a blackout (lighting by Anna Watson). Fly Davis’ house set is big, expensive-looking, and — I don’t know how else to put it — alive. Downstairs, a kitchen melts into a vestibule, then into a living room, in one continuous space with no walls, only furniture obstacles. Upstairs, Lou and James can finally find privacy from each other in a bedroom, bathroom, or nursery, but the same doors and walls that allow them to hide from each other may also be hiding the things they don’t want to face. Try to stop your eye from darting around the space, asking yourself whether a spirit crossed a wall (did it?) or if something is about to move in the darkness (will it?).  Across town at Studio Theatre, Octet, a chamber musical about “digital dependency,” has audiences locking away their devices to guarantee a “phone-free experience.” Paranormal Activity demands something similar of its audience, though no pouch is required; it moves so quickly and promises so intently that, without saying so, its directive is clear: you’d better not look away for a second. Given the scale of the spectacle, it’s not a tall order, but the results are thrilling nonetheless. Yelps and screams abounded at the performance I saw, which inadvertently helped this wimp/wuss/weenie (and others like me, I’m sure) remember that it’s only a play.  Travis A. Knight as James and Cher Álvarez as Lou in ‘Paranormal Activity.’ Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography. I expected to be surprised, but not in the way I ultimately was. At its best, theater is a kind of seance between the audience and the play, and even with its frozen-in-celluloid roots, Paranormal Activity facilitates that connection here with great success. There’s a reason we return to Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap and Noel Coward’s supernatural comedy Blithe Spirit — a tradition that Paranormal Activity, simultaneously playing in London’s West End, now joins. Audiences don’t need to scream, but they do want a reason to lean forward and listen. Even so, somehow jump scares feel good in a place like this. Running Time: Two hours and 10 minutes, including one intermission. Paranormal Activity plays through February 7, 2025, in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC. Tickets (starting at $43) can be purchased online, by calling the Box Office at 202-547-1122, or through TodayTix. The Asides program is online here. Buy Tickets Discount Tickets Paranormal ActivityBy Levi HollowayDirected by Felix BarrettRestaged by Levi HollowayIn co-production with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Center Theatre Group, and American Conservatory Theatre CASTCher Álvarez, Travis A. Knight, Kate Fry, Shannon Cochran, Kira Cornell, Caron Buinis, Carikube Henricks, Michael Holding CREATIVEScenic Costume Designer: Fly Davis, Lighting Designer: Anna Watson, Sound Designer: Gareth Fry, Video/Projections Designer: Luke Halls, Illusions Designer: Chris Fisher, Intimacy Fight Coordinator: Chels Morgan, Dialect Coach: Susan Gosdick The post ‘Paranormal Activity’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company is a horror hoot appeared first on DC Theater Arts. ...read more read less